Wall Street flat as investors assess earnings, Donald Trump comments

Wells Fargo slipped 2.5% after reporting a big drop in mortgage banking revenue

US stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors assessed the first rush of bank earnings and President Donald Trump's remarks on the dollar's strength and interest rates.

Shares of JPMorgan and Citigroup rose about 1 per cent after the two banks reported better-than-expected quarterly profits.

However, Wells Fargo slipped 2.5 per cent after reporting a big drop in mortgage banking revenue.

The earnings reports come in the wake of a frenetic rally in bank shares that started after Trump's election as U.S. president on hopes that he would rein in banking regulations and introduce other business friendly policies.

At 10:01 am EDT (1401 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.58 points, flat, at 20,591.28, the S&P 500 was up 0.68 points, or 0.028999 percent, at 2,345.61 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 10.40 points, or 0.18 percent, at 5,846.56.

"Investors will (be) faced with another day of market uncertainties as bank earnings, geopolitical worries and Trump's comments on the greenback are being reflected in the volatility index that is flashing trouble ahead," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial, wrote in a note.

Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the dollar "was getting too strong" and that he would like to see interest rates stay low.

The S&P 500 financial index was up 0.2 percent, while five other S&P sectors were down.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, led by a 0.4 per cent decline in financials. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are due to report results next week.

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics jumped nearly 23 per cent to $50.15 after the company said it expected first-quarter earnings to exceed its forecast.

Trading volumes could be lower than usual on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,403 to 1,186. On the Nasdaq, 1,201 issues fell and 1,163 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed two 52-week highs and no lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 highs and 27 lows.